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Women-only clinic for addicts triples in size as cases soar
Anna Davis28 Apr 2009
London's only treatment centre for women alcohol and drug addicts has tripled in size to cope with an increasing number of cases.
Hope House has moved from an eight-bedroom building in Maida Vale to a 23-bed centre in Clapham Common formerly used only by male addicts.
The centre treats women who have been through detox and offers them help to accustom themselves to the world after the first stages of rehab.
The number of women seeking help for addiction has reached a high and is virtually on a par with men for the first time. The problem is likely to get worse as binge-drinking teenage girls develop addictions.
Amanda Williams, director of Action on Addiction, said the percentage of women to men being treated in its main centre, Clouds House in Wiltshire, had risen from 29 to 47 in five years.
"You can't fail to see the statistics - binge-drinking has increased among British women more than any other European country in the last decade. Professional women are more likely to drink regularly, and that lifestyle can lead to problem drinking," she said.
"Some professional women get addicted because of this lifestyle, while someone else could be drinking because they are a single mum. We are expanding Hope House because we are aware of these needs. We had to turn women away because we were not big enough."
Hope House was set up 20 years ago and treats NHS and private patients as well as those funded by Action for Addiction. Women stay at the centre for 12 to 24 weeks. It cost £300,000 to renovate the centre, with money donated by an anonymous family charitable trust.
Ms Williams said: "We treat women from all walks of life. A lot of them are in their late twenties and early thirties who have started to address some of their issues. They are at rock bottom.
"Women do a lot better when they are with other women. They can explore issues such as abuse, eating disorders and the guilt they feel because their children are not with them."
A 43-year-old former resident said: "I was treated in Hope House for alcohol and heroin and crack addiction and have been clean for five years. You don't have the distraction of men. Most of the people there had not been in a relationship for years so would be intimidated by men being there.
"Drug and alcohol addiction is becoming more of a problem among women. It goes hand in hand with women having to be responsible for jobs, careers and relationships. I had a child, I tried to set up my own business and a relationship and I couldn't cope."
Research shows that British teenage girls are out-drinking boys. The European School Survey Project on Alcohol and other Drugs, of 15 and 16-year-olds in 35 countries, found that 55 per cent of girls admitted binge-drinking, compared with 52 per cent of boys.
